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Yōichi Kotabe
Yoichi Kotabe is an acclaimed Japanese artist known for his animation work on various anime productions on companies like Toei Animation. He spent two decades of his carrer working for Nintendo as an illustrator. History Born on September 15, 1936, Yoichi Kotabe became a fan of art during his early school years when his mother introduced him to flipbook animation (the act of flipping through pages, each page with an image that progressively changes, to make it look like it's moving). His father was an artist, though ironically the person who didn't draw much at all was the one who made him interested in animation (his mother). According to him, his mother drew a stick figure in a text book of his at the corner, and on each page the stick figure would be in a slightly different position. As he recalls the stick figure was exercising. It made him interested enough to try himself. Since 1959 he was involved in various anime companies, where he worked on various memorable anime series and movies such as Panda! Go, Panda! and Heidi, Girl of the Alps, ''among many other works. In 1985 he joined Nintendo, where Shigeru Miyamoto commissioned him to design most of the artwork of the Mario series and some other games. He also became involved with the Pokémon franchise, supervising the 3D games and most of anime series and movies. He retired from Nintendo in 2007, but he is still active as a freelance artist. Game Works * [[Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic|''Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic]] (1987) - Meddler (as Otabe) * Yūyūki (1989) - Character Design * ''The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past'' (1991) - Printed Artwork * ''Super Mario Kart'' (1992) - Illustrator * ''The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening'' (1993) - Illustrator * Donkey Kong (Game Boy) (1994) - Illustrator * ''BS Zelda no Densetsu'' (1995) - Designer * ''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars'' (1996) - Character Advisor * ''Super Mario USA Power Challenge'' (1996) - Graphic Design * ''Tetris Attack'' (SNES) (1996) - Advisor * ''Tetris Attack'' (GB) (1996) - Design Adviser * ''Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium'' (1997) - Illustration * ''Game & Watch Gallery 2'' (1997) - Illustration Adviser * ''Pocket Monsters Stadium'' (1998) - Character Supervisor * ''Mario Party'' (1998) - Graphic Support * ''Pokémon Snap'' (1999) - Character Supervisor * ''Game & Watch Gallery 3'' (1999) - Illustration Advisor * ''Pokémon Stadium'' (1999) - Character Supervisor * ''Super Mario Bros. Deluxe'' (1999) - Illustrator * ''Mario Golf'' (Nintendo 64) (1999) - Graphic Support * ''Mario Golf'' (Game Boy Color) (1999) - Graphic Support * ''Mario Party 2'' (1999) - Graphic Support * ''Mario Tennis'' (Nintendo 64) (2000) - Graphic Support * ''Paper Mario'' (2000) - Illustration Support * ''Mario Tennis'' (Game Boy Color) (2000) - Graphic Support * ''Mario Party 3'' (2000) - Graphic Support * ''Pokémon Stadium 2'' (2000) - Character Supervisor * ''Super Mario Advance'' (2001) - Illustrator * ''Kuru Kuru Kururin'' (2001) - Character Design * ''Mobile Golf'' (2001) - Graphic Support * ''Golden Sun'' (2001) - Graphic Support * ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' (2001) - Supervisor (Nintendo Character Supervision) * ''Golden Sun: The Lost Age'' (2002) - Graphic Support * ''Mario Party 4'' (2002) - Graphics Support * ''Game & Watch Gallery 4'' (2002) - Illustration * ''Kururin Paradise'' (2002) - Character Design * ''Mario Party-e'' (2003) - Graphic Support * [[WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!|''WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!]] (2003) - Supervisor (Character) * [[Pokémon Channel|''Pokémon Channel]] (2003) - Animation Supervisor (Pichu Bros. in Party Panic) * ''Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour'' (2003) - Graphic Support * [[WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!|''WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!]] (2003) - Character Supervisor * [[Mario Party 5|''Mario Party 5]] (2003) - Graphics Support * ''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga'' (2003) - Illustration Supervisor * ''Donkey Konga'' (2003) - Graphic Support * ''Mario Golf: Advance Tour'' (2004) - Graphic Support * ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong'' (2004) - Art Supervisor * ''Donkey Konga 2'' (2004) - Graphic Support * ''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' (2004) - Supervisor (Character) * [[WarioWare Twisted!|''WarioWare: Twisted!]] (2004) - Character Supervisor * [[Kururin Squash!|''Kururin Squash!]] (2004) - Character Design * ''Mario Power Tennis'' (2004) - Graphics Support * ''Mario Party 6'' (2004) - Graphics Support * [[WarioWare: Touched!|''WarioWare: Touched!]] (2004) - Character Supervision * [[Mario Party Advance|''Mario Party Advance]] (2005) - Graphic Support * ''DK: King of Swing'' (2005) - Graphic Support * ''Donkey Konga 3'' (2005) - Graphic Support * ''Mario Tennis: Power Tour'' (2005) - Graphic Support * ''Super Princess Peach'' (2005) - Character Supervision * ''Mario Party 7'' (2005) - Graphic Support * ''Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time'' (2005) - Illustration Supervisor * ''WarioWare: Smooth Moves'' (2006) - Character Supervision Special Thanks * ''Super Mario World'' (1990) * For the Frog the Bell Tolls (1992) * ''Mario & Wario'' (1993) * ''Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island'' (1995) * ''Wrecking Crew '98'' (1998) * ''Super Mario Sunshine'' (2002) * ''Yoshi Touch & Go'' (2005) External links *Iwata Asks: Flipnote Studio *Wikipedia article Category:Nintendo people Category:Real people Category:Character designers Category:Retired people